Alameda woman shares mementos from Civil Rights Act signing

Ann Johnsen witnessed the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Photo by Janice Worthen.

By Janice Worthen

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Ann Beret Johnsen, a fourth generation Alamedan, watched from the Senate gallery as President Lyndon Johnson signed the act into law. She was just 17 years old.

Johnsen said she could see Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. standing behind President Johnson and was surprised that there were so few black people in the gallery. She felt more seats should have been given to African Americans since she felt it was a more significant event for them.

Johnsen’s mother, a supporter of human rights, secured Johnsen a pass to the ceremony through Congressman George P. Miller, who was then Alameda’s representative. Johnsen said civil rights issues rarely touched her life in Alameda at that time and admitted that she didn’t fully appreciate the significance of the Civil Rights Act when she attended the signing ceremony, but she was awed by the event and her visit to Washington D.C.

One of the things that most struck Johnson during her stay in the nation’s capitol was the existence of separate drinking fountains for blacks and whites.

“Seeing the words ‘colored only’ in the basement of the United States Capitol building seemed outrageous to me,” she said.